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Regulatory Notice 12-18

FINRA Requests Comment on Proposed New In re Expungement Procedures for Persons Not Named in a Customer-Initiated Arbitration

Comment Period Expired: May 21, 2012

FINRA is requesting comment on proposed new rules that would permit persons who are the “subject of” allegations of sales practice violations made in arbitration claims, but who are not named as parties to the arbitration (unnamed persons), to seek expungement relief by initiating In re expungement proceedings at the conclusion of the underlying customer-initiated arbitration case. These allegations must be reported in the same way that customer complaints are reported—to the Central Registration Depository (CRD®) system on Forms U4 or U5. Currently, the Code of Arbitration Procedure for Customer Disputes (Customer Code) and the Code of Arbitration Procedure for Industry Disputes (Industry Code) (together, Codes) do not provide unnamed persons with express procedures to seek expungement of these types of allegations.

FINRA believes the proposed In re expungement rules and accompanying forms provide unnamed persons with a remedy to seek redress concerning allegations that could impact their livelihoods, yet maintain the protections of FINRA’s expungement rules to ensure the integrity of the CRD records, on which the investing public relies.

The proposed Notice of Intent to File an In re Expungement Claim (Notice of Intent to File) and Submission Agreement for In re Expungement Claims (In re Submission Agreement) forms are set forth as Attachments A and B, respectively.